


Shutter Shock

by Drowned_Ophelia



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 21:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11882889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drowned_Ophelia/pseuds/Drowned_Ophelia
Summary: Viola's on vacation in Alola! She intends to take plenty of pictures, of course, and maybe even catch some bugs that are unobtainable in Kalos. She doesn't even have time to set up her camera equipment before she becomes surrounded by Team Skull Grunts. Do they intend on robbing her or have something else planned?





	Shutter Shock

Picture Perfect! That was the best way that Viola could describe Alola once she arrived and got her first look. It had been a long boat ride that already seemed to be worth it with her first step into the tropical island paradise.

Neat shops were everywhere, the streets were clean, people were friendly… Most importantly, however, she had a list of all the photo hotspots and was DYING to get her camera out! If she was lucky just maybe she’d be able to find some bug Pokemon that were native only to this area.

Ula’Ula Meadow sounded like a promising spot, she heading there the next day after resting up in a hotel. Although not the rarest bugs around, she did supposedly have a chance at spotting two of them to snap photos of. With the ride pager she’d been loaned in hand reaching it was a breeze! These things sure came in handy; she’d have to see if they couldn’t get a system set up like this in Kalos.

While attempting to find the ideal spot to set up her tripod Viola failed to notice she’d caught the attention of a group of teens who began whispering to themselves about her before nodding and making their way towards her.

Viola had her thumb and pointer fingers out on both hands, bringing them together to make a triangle, when a male in a white hat, black bandana and outfit, with an S chain dangling around his neck walked into her point of view.

“Oh…” She lowered her hands at once. She’d been warned about a gang of hoodlums known as Team Skull causing trouble in Alola for both locals and tourists alike. She’d just never thought running into them like this was a possibility, clutching her equipment to her chest possessively as she cautiously looked around at the five of them. “I’ll have you know I’m the Santalune gym leader! Don’t come any closer or else!”

“Yo! Told you it was her!” a female Grunt said to the male beside her, giving his chest a small hit with the back of her hand. It seemed he’d had his doubts.

He shrugged it off. “You’re coming with us.” It was a clear demand. Not a request.

Viola shook her head. “Not a chance! You’d better be gone in a flash! I swear-”

While she fumbled for her Pokeballs the Team Skull Grunts took this chance to jump her, a female grabbing her equipment while her companions tussled with Viola. Against four of them she just wasn’t strong enough, unable to stop them from binding her legs, hands, and forcing a gag into her mouth. She let out a muffled scream that was useless. Other potential visitors had cleared out once they’d seen Team Skull in the area while Viola had been too focused with her own affairs to notice.

She was hoisted over the shoulder over the largest male Grunt of the group before he started carrying her, the others following close behind. Viola was able to see the female Grunt who’d taken it upon herself to make sure she had all of Viola’s equipment, but that was of little comfort right now. What could they possibly want with her? Where were they taking her?

Unable to speak to them or struggle out of the ropes that held her all Viola could do was sit there when she was placed on the floor of a boat and listen to conversations that were going on. She heard things like “The boss is going to be so stoked!” and “Careful with her stuff! It looks expensive!”. Although she’d been shanghaied it seemed her life wasn’t in danger… So what exactly was going on here?

Unlike the one she took from Kalos, this boat ride was relatively short and she found herself carried again by that same Grunt. Without access to her guide book Viola had no clue were she’d been take to or even if she was on the same island. It was rainy, wherever it was, and she made more attempts to make a noise loud enough to be heard when she saw they were passing a police station.

Some of the Meowth prowling outside of it looked at her curiously before going about their own business again. The doors of the police station remained closed, making her wonder if it was maybe vacant. There was only a slight pause when she heard the sound of a large gate opening before they continued on. The more she saw the more she realized something big had happened here, all of the houses completely run down with trash and graffiti everywhere.

She saw more teens dressed in the same attire. Some looked at her for a moment like the Meowth, their reactions more or less the same, like abducting someone was more than a regular occurrence here. She noticed the Grunt was shielding her equipment from the rain. That seemed surprisingly considerate. If they were planning to perhaps sell her camera gear, then why go to all the trouble of taking her too? Still she came up with nothing.

The dwelling they brought her into was the shabbiest Viola had ever seen. It was even worse than what she’d seen on the outside, like somehow a tornado had come in through the door and wrecked everything inside. Team Skull seemed to have no idea what a broom was with dirt and junk everywhere, the furniture was torn up, and even the walls in here were victims of their “artwork”.

It seemed like an usually long trek before they entered a room and she was placed down into a large purple chair that seemed more like a king’s throne. She noticed that the arms were splintered and, the more she looked around, it appeared that she was in someone’s bedroom.

“Mmph!” was what it sounded like when she tried calling out to them when she saw all the Grunts were leaving her there. The female Grunt with her things set them close by the chair.

“Boss isn’t back yet,” one of them said. “Should be here soon. Just sit tight.”

What else could she do? After the door shut Viola started struggling harder than ever. These kids really knew how to tie a knot; that was for sure.

Meanwhile the Grunts headed back downstairs, eagerly awaiting Guzma’s return with thoughts of a promotion or a reward on their minds. They were on him the moment he entered the doorway. At first he ignored them as he started walking, not in the mood at all. He was even more grumpy than usual, the five of them getting on his nerves immediately.

“Boss, please!” a female Grunt begged as she dared to step in front of his path. “We did something you’re really gonna like!”

“I doubt that…” Guzma grumbled. When did these idiots ever really do something right? He realized, however, the sooner he heard it the sooner he could be rid of them. He crossed his arms, his scowl becoming more prominent when at first the five started talking all at once, trying to take most of the credit for themselves.

“I saw her first!” one of the girls was first to point out.

“I carried all of her stuff and kept it safe!” the second added, deeming that of much more importance.

“I tied the knots so she couldn’t escape!” a male Grunt shoved them both to the side.

“I carried her here!” the biggest of the boys boasted, proudly puffing out his chest.

“WHO?” Guzma demanded as the fifth was trying to think of something he contributed. They certainly had his attention now.

“Viola!” the fifth answered quickly, seeing his chance to earn some praise. “We saw her in the Meadow, she wouldn’t come with us, but we wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, yo!”

Guzma’s jaw dropped as his eyes widened. The Grunts saw this as good thing and so they continued to gush on and on about the abduction while patting themselves on the back. The more Guzma heard the more horrified he became. He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white as he started shaking.

“YOU DID WHAT?”! He finally snapped and tore at his hair in a rage.

This was not the reaction they were expecting, the Grunts clamming up at once, giving each other confused and concerned looks while Guzma glared at them with pure hatred. He wasn’t pleased. Oh no, not one bit. He wanted to hear that they were joking. Wanted to hear that maybe they’d misspoken. Anything but confirmation that…

  
“YOU DAMN IDIOT NUMBSKULLS!”

Viola froze when she heard a voice so loud and imposing she swore it shook the entire mansion, some debris drifting down from the ceiling. Next came some crashing, thumping, and a few screams. Viola felt her heart go into burst mode as her struggles became more and more desperate. Whoever that voice belonged to she absolutely did NOT want to meet.

All she succeeded in doing was falling off the chair onto her face with her rear end up in the air. This hadn’t helped one bit. Before she could think of any other possible thing to she turned her heads towards the door when it opened. Her eyes widened to see a man well over six feet tall enter the room who, despite his outlandish outfit, was absolutely the meanest looking and scariest guy she’d ever seen in her life. When he locked eyes with her after a glance around the room, however, his expression seemed to soften up. This didn’t stop her from trying to scream again as he came towards her while she was in such a precarious position. She flopped over her feet scraping against the paint stained stairs in an attempt to move.

The man crouched down in front of her, making Viola flinch when he reached out a hand. “I… I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” he tried to assure, holding still until she opened her eyes and looked at him. “I’m gonna untie ya and let ya go, OK? So don’t yell, try to hit me, or nothin’.”

…Just like that? This seemed awful strange… Why go to all the trouble to bring her here only to say she was free to leave? This guy could punch her lights out in an instant so Viola complied with what the man said. She nodded, staying still and quiet while he struggled with the knots and then pulled the gag out of her mouth once he was finished.

The man stood up and turned his back on her, like he couldn’t even stand to look at her, before he took multiple steps away. “Ya know the way out or do ya need help?”

“I-I think I can find it…” Viola answered as she shakily got to her feet. “But who are you?”

“Name’s Guzma,” he answered. “I’m…” He struggled to get out the rest. “Sorry… About this… Ma’am.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever apologized to anyone. This wasn’t even really HIS fault, but for someone like Viola, he had to give one.

Viola was completely puzzled. This man was being so polite. Feeling a bit more at ease, she pried further. “Why did they bring me here anyway?”

Guzma sighed; of course she’d want to know that. He almost considered threatening her to make her leave rather than tell her the truth since it would be easier. “It’s ‘cause I’m a Bug trainer too. I told the Grunts to shut up when you were on TV sayin’ you were comin’ to Alola and I guess they thought they’d earn some points with me. Never meant to cause you any trouble.”

Now things were beginning to come into focus. Still a bit cautious, she approached Guzma. “So you’re a fan of mine?” she dared to ask, how close she suddenly was making him jump.

Guzma nodded, a slight blush on his cheeks. “Got a Masquerain on my team because of ya…”

“That’s fantastic!” Viola couldn’t help grinning now; this guy wasn’t really so bad. “Say,” she walked around Guzma so she could stop conversing with his back. It was almost cute how shy this huge, fearsome man had gotten around her. “I’ll bet you must know all the best spots around here to catch Bug Pokemon! Want to show me?”

Guzma was floored. He wanted to say “Yes” so badly, a pained expression coming over his face when he begrudgingly answered “No” instead with a heavy heart. “Ya don’t wanna be seen with someone like me. I can tell ya where to go.” If anyone saw Viola willingly tagging along with him Guzma knew it would result in a huge hit to her reputation. He couldn’t let that happen.

Instead he and Viola sat side by side on the steps leading up to his purple chair. Viola took out a map, Guzma pointing out the ideal locations and even what times to try. He was giving her so much information that she had to take out her little pocket journal as well to make sure she didn’t miss anything.

When she mentioned having an interest in a Wimpod that’s when Guzma really got excited, making sure she understood the necessity of needing to sneak up as quietly as possible to one and grab it before it dashed back into its hole.

However, this continued to pain him even more that he couldn’t go with and catch one for her. He thought about offering to accompany her if they went out at night, but all it would take was one person to see the gym leader with Team Skull’s leader and…

Guzma pushed the idea out of his mind. This was really all he could offer, silence filling the room once he’d finished as he tried not to think of what could have been, how if his life had turned out differently he could be out there right now with Viola having the time of his life.

“Well, it was a bit rough getting here, but thank you just the same,” Viola said, starting to feel a bit awkward and that her welcome was being overstayed. “Say! I’ve got a fantastic idea, though!”

  
Although Guzma had wound up meeting one of his idols that absolutely did not mean the Grunts were off the hook. What they experienced before Guzma hurried up to his room to see Viola was only a taste of what he was going to do. The three boys received a thrashing they’d be feeling for weeks and he screamed at girls until they were shaking and crying. To top things off, they would be forced to stay in Shady House to perform some much needed cleaning duty and not allowed outside again until Guzma “felt like it”.

So this was the thanks they got for trying to do something nice.

Guzma would have stayed upset if not for the little memento that Viola left behind for him. He opened the door to his room and walked over to the Polaroid photo he’d set down on the dresser.

He couldn’t believe it when she suggested it. At first Guzma wanted to comb his hair, and maybe even change, but Viola insisted a candid photo would be the best. For them both to fit Guzma had to crouch down and move in rather close to her, Viola not minding a bit. She took the shot, shook the picture while making a comment that something as outdated as a camera like this still had its use, before writing something on the back.

“If you ever quit Team Skull and visit Kalos, be sure to come see me,” Viola said as she handed Guzma the photo. “It was actually really nice meeting you. I guess none of you are really as “bad” as they told me.”

“Don’t go tellin’ anyone that, though,” Guzma was quick to respond. “Ya ran out of here yellin’ and screamin’, afraid for yer life.”

Viola nodded, giving him the thumbs up before she took her leave.

Guzma turned over the photo to read the back again. He’d had to have done so about twenty times already.

_To Guzma, my biggest fan_   
_I’ll never forget today (it would be impossible to!)_   
_Thank you and I hope we meet again!_

Guzma sat down on his bed and stared at the photo he held out in front of him as he laid on his back. The man his saw in the photo next to Viola… When was the last time he’d ever been that genuinely happy? Leaving Team Skull… Like that would ever happen. It COULDN’T happen. This was all he had. Even if he could never see Viola again he’d still have this to treasure and remember their meeting by. He had to be content with that.

It was one of the very rare occasions anyone got to see the bit of softness that Guzma still had within him.

**Author's Note:**

> I never finished X or Y. I can't even remember which one I own! However, all someone had to say was that there's a female Bug trainer and I had to. I just hope I wrote Viola OK. If she's pretty OOC, well this is why.


End file.
